Undefined
by em-ily8458
Summary: Marcelina "Lina" Lestrange isn't always who she seems...nor is she your typical Slytherin. Follow her through her Hogwarts years and beyond. (readers ultimately will decide the ships in this story...eventual romance with...someone)
1. Please Let Me Be in Slytherin

**So, alright, I've had this kind of idea laying around in my brain for ages, so I figured I'd do something with it. Yes, ****_Heart of a Hufflepuff _****will still be updated and is still in progress, don't worry! This is just something extra :)**

**Of course, I'd like to thank everyone in advance for the support, and I'd like to remind everyone that reviews here on are truly my lifeblood :) Also, if you have any shipping requests, send them in, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that in this fic just yet. **

**Anyhow...enjoy! :D**

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><p>Bellatrix and Rodolphus never planned on having a child. Rather, it was something that just….happened. It just happened, that in early August of 1980, they had a child, a rather scrawny baby girl who was born with hair as dark and as wild as her mother's.<p>

However, it was no surprise that the girl's mother lacked any maternal instinct at all. She refused to even touch the child - the responsibilities of caring for her fell completely to her younger sister, Narcissa, who didn't really mind all that much. Yes, Narcissa had her own little Draco to care for and fawn over, and she loved her son dearly, but she couldn't say she didn't enjoy dressing her niece in the most girly and frivolous outfits available for a baby of her size.

Bellatrix maintained her lack of interest in the child. She often told her sister that the child was useless to her, until she was old enough to serve the Dark Lord.

Rodolphus, on the other hand, had just a bit of interest in his daughter. When he wasn't completely occupied with his duties as a Death Eater, he held his daughter. He fed her. He put her in the crib across from his nephew's for her nap. He even named her, something Bellatrix couldn't be bothered to do. He named her Marcelina Hecate Lestrange, after his mother.

Though having a daughter softened Rodolphus, it didn't soften him all that much. He was still devoted to the Dark Lord, and just a little over a year after his daughter's birth, his master fell, and he participated in the torture of Alice and Frank Longbottom, which landed him in Azkaban. He was proud to be so loyal, along with his wife, to go to Azkaban for their master, where they vowed to wait for him until his return.

But, there was still a tiny, microscopic piece of him that felt horrible for leaving his daughter, even if he knew Narcissa would raise her well. That tiny part was often shoved to the back of his consciousness, overpowered by the pride he took in his loyalty. His wife had no sign of guilt for leaving their daughter, then again, she didn't even know her own child's name.

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><p>Marcelina grew into a near miniature of her mother - wild, unruly and thick dark hair, with a pale complexion, though she'd inherited her father's deep blue eyes. Even as a young girl, it was obvious she'd inherited the classic Black good looks, but that's where her similarities with her parents ended.<p>

Even though she was raised in the pureblood-mania of her Uncle Lucius and Aunt Narcissa, as was her cousin Draco, she couldn't have been more different than her male cousin. He always asked for things, toys and such, which he received. He got the best of the best, and his parents made sure of that, and that caused him to become bratty in the eyes of most, though he was still wonderful in his cousin's eyes.

That was one of the main things that distinguished little Marcelina from the rest of her family - her ability to see the best in people. She was a persistent optimist, always seeing the best in people. She was endlessly cheerful, a small light in the usually dark Malfoy Manor. While Draco and his little friends spent their time zooming around on their brooms, she was nose-deep in books, drawing, writing, taking her cello lessons, or playing with the small creatures that made their way into the gardens.

Both Lucius and Narcissa came to love and dote on their niece, just as they did their own son. She became like a daughter to them.

When it came time for the two children to go to school, Lucius wanted to send them to Durmstrang, though Narcissa talked him out of it. She wanted the children to attend Hogwarts, so that they'd be close by. She could barely handle them leaving, let alone going all the way to Durmstrang. Lucius reluctantly agreed, and on September 1st of 1991, Draco and Marcelina were on the Hogwarts Express.

On board, Marcelina noticed how people, particularly the older students, looked at her. Their looks were certainly not warm or welcoming, like how they looked at the other first years, but instead rather disgustedly curious. She had to wonder why. They didn't know her….she hadn't done anything, had she? She'd simply followed Draco onto the train and taken a seat with him and his friends. She hoped she hadn't done anything to offend anyone.

Also on the train, she learned about the three other houses that weren't Slytherin (the house her aunt and uncle hoped that both she and Draco would be sorted into). They were Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. The word amongst Draco and his friends was that all Ravenclaws were snobbish because of their apparent intelligence, Gryffindors were a bunch of no-good blood-traitors who constantly had to boast about themselves and cause trouble, and that Hufflepuffs were a load of doormats and duffers.

Marcelina swallowed hard. She was hoping and praying for Slytherin the whole train ride and boat ride across the lake. From what she'd heard, it was the only house worth being in, and the one that her family had all been in.

The Hogwarts castle itself was beautiful and even more magnificent than Malfoy Manor, the only home she'd ever known, and temporarily distracted her from all the nerves. Soon enough, though, the nerves were back, as she was lined up alphabetically with all the rest of the first year students awaiting their sorting in the Great Hall.

In awe, she watched as one of the professors sat the Sorting Hat on a stool before the whole hall, and listened as it sang:

_Oh you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folks use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!_

It felt like an eternity for Marcelina, watching all the other students get sorted before she did. She wanted to know, she wanted the hat to yell "SLYTHERIN!" while seated on top of her head, she wanted it more than anything she'd ever wanted in her life.

Finally, the female professor called, "Lestrange, Marcelina!"

As she made her way towards the stool, she noticed a certain hush had come over the previously noisy hall, with only frantic whispers filling the air. Once again, she felt like she'd done something to upset everyone. She felt horrible, but nonetheless, took a deep breath, sat on the stool, and allowed the ancient hat to be placed upon her head.

"_Most interesting_," said the voice of the hat, which seemed to be in her own head. "_Very, very interesting….not many students are this difficult to sort, I must say….let's see, you've certainly got the brains….you've got a mind of your own….exceptionally deceptive….exceptionally loyal and kindhearted as well….hm…._"

_Slytherin, please, Slytherin…._, Marcelina pleaded in her mind. _I haven't wanted anything more in my life, please put me in Slytherin!_

"_Slytherin, it is, that you want?_" the hat inquired. "_Ah, most interesting, most interesting indeed….if that's what you want, I won't argue…._"

Then, the hat finally screamed so that the whole hall could hear.

"_SLYTHERIN_!"


	2. The Parselmouth and the Patronus

**Chapter two. As always support is greatly appreciated, and I can't thank you enough. Reviews are my lifeblood here on , so don't be afraid to drop one off, or drop of a question for me, the author, or any of the characters :)**

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><p>Draco had always referred to her as Lina, rather than Marcelina. And it didn't take long for all the students at Hogwarts to follow suit and start calling her Lina rather than Marcelina.<p>

It also didn't take long for Lina to figure out why so many people gave her such strange and hurtful looks in the corridors. After some reading in the library, she found out that her parents, Rodolphus and Bellatrix Lestrange, had tortured Aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom to the point of insanity via the Cruciatus Curse, one of the Unforgivable Curses. They'd done so on orders of Lord Voldemort - or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - and were currently serving life sentences in Azkaban.

On top of that, Frank and Alice had a son, Neville, who was in her year, in Gryffindor.

Lina could barely breathe as she read the information. At eleven years old, it was a lot to swallow, to say the least. Aunt Narcissa and Uncle Lucius had never told her this information, they'd merely said her mother and father were "away on business" and would be back before she knew it. She wanted to go find Neville Longbottom, sprint up to him and apologize fervently, but she knew that wouldn't happen. All the students who weren't in Slytherin avoided her like a leper. The only ones who accepted her were in her own house.

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><p>The major discovery that she made during her second year at Hogwarts was that she was a Parselmouth. That discovery happened when Draco, and his two friends, Crabbe, and Goyle, learned the Snake Summons Spell from some older students and couldn't stop themselves from conjuring snakes everywhere they went, within the common room and dormitories.<p>

She remembered that specific day very well in her mind.

"Serpensortia!" called Crabbe, causing an enormous greenish snake to burst from the tip of his wand.

"You haven't done it right!" screamed Draco, leaping onto a chair for protection. The boys had only managed to conjure corn snakes and other harmless ones, but the one Crabbe just conjured had horrifying fangs and looked terribly angry. "That thing's dangerous!"

"What're we supposed to do now?!" hollered Goyle.

While the other students stood around laughing at the younger boys, Lina decided that if no one was going to take action, she'd have to. She was always good with animals, playing with those who came into contact with. So, she stood from where she was reading her Potions book by the fire, and approached the snake.

"That boy's an idiot!" the snake hissed. "Just dropping me on the ground like that!"

"Please, settle down," Lina replied, attempting to reason with the fearsome creature. "He didn't mean it."

"You speak my tongue," the snake remarked. "You clearly possess….special qualities. I will trust you, then, human girl."

The snake seemed to settle down, as it slithered over to Lina, slithering up onto her and around her neck like a scarf, and she ran her hands down its smooth body, petting it. Everyone in the common room stopped what they were doing, and stared at her. She felt like she'd done something wrong again, until everyone starting applauding.

"We've got a Parselmouth in Slytherin!" exclaimed one of the older students excitedly. "Potter's not the only one!"

From that day forward, she became somewhat of a celebrity in the Slytherin house, and an unwilling one, at that.

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><p>In her third year, Lina learned how to conjure a Patronus.<p>

She was terrified of Dementors, absolutely terrified of them. She had nightmares about Dementors….the nightmares were extremely vivid….

In these nightmares, she'd be in the tiniest cell in Azkaban. Her parents, whom she'd only ever seen in pictures, were on either side of her, egging her on, telling her to torture Frank and Alice Longbottom, who were quivering right before her eyes. She refused, she kept refusing, telling her parents she could never do it, that she didn't have it in her, and they told her she was no daughter of theirs. Then, from the ceiling, came a swarm of Dementors, hundreds, there must have been, and she felt all the warmth beginning to be drained from her, all the happiness, just gone, just as the textbooks described, and it was absolutely terrible….

Just as they were about to drain her whole soul from her body, she'd jerk awake, struggling to catch her breath as she dripped in a cold sweat.

She decided to conquer this fear one day.

"Professor Lupin?" she inquired, after most of the other students had filtered out of the room. She clutched her books against her chest nervously.

"Yes, Miss Lestrange?" Professor Lupin countered.

She could tell, just by the way he looked at her, that he had some sort of prejudice against her because of her parents. Still, he was one of her favorite professors.

"I was wondering….," she stumbled, filled with nerves. "It's just that….I'm….I-I'm….really quite afraid of the….D-d-dementors….and I was wondering….if there's something….some kind of charm that would….er, protect me…."

Lupin raised his eyebrows, as his expression changed. It was as if, for the first time, he didn't see a miniature Bellatrix Lestrange before him, but rather, a seemingly vulnerable and truly frightened young girl. His posture seemed to relax, as his expression softened.

"Oh, yes, of course there is," Lupin told her, setting down the book he had in his hands. "It's rather difficult, but if you really want to learn it, I'd be happy to instruct you."

"Please, professor," Lina nodded desperately. "Please, I really do want to learn."

"It's called the Patronus Charm," Lupin continued. "Extremely difficult, but the only known protection against Dementors….the incantation is Expecto Patronum, and in order to conjure one, you must think of your happiest memory, and focus on it. Do you understand?"

She nodded fervently.

"Alright," Lupin said. "Why don't you try it, just to practice. No need to worry if you don't get it right the first time, as I said, it's extremely difficult….now, try, if you please."

Nodding again, Lina readied her wand - 14 ¼ inches, dogwood and dragon heartstring - and tried to focus her mind. She thought of all the happy moments in her life - playing cello, romping in the garden with the little animals, playing with Draco, her favorite books….all of these thoughts collided in her mind, into one enormous amalgamation of happiness, and she finally felt ready.

"Expecto Patronum!" she burst, shocking both herself and Professor Lupin.

Suddenly, a great, silvery mass erupted from Lina's wand. She could barely hold onto her wand, as it shook in her hand, and she and Lupin both watched as the silvery mass wound itself into a great silvery, mist-like bear, that was huge and ghostly in a beautiful sense of the word, as it bounded through the air around them.

Lina was astonished that she was able to do this, but not nearly as astonished as Lupin was. When she looked to him for approval, she was almost scared when she saw her professor's expression, seeing how genuinely shocked that he looked.

"Very good, Miss Lestrange," Lupin said finally. "I think you'll be able to handle yourself against Dementors if the situation ever arises, just keep practicing…."

"Alright, thank you," Lina said mousily, as she gathered her books once again.

She left Lupin's classroom feeling both confident and extremely insecure, and slightly confused.

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><p>During her fourth year at Hogwarts, the Triwizard Tournament occurred, as did the return of the Dark Lord, her parents' master.<p>

At Christmastime, she went to the Yule Ball with Blaise Zabini, and got ready with Pansy Parkinson and a handful of other girls she wasn't all that fond of. She felt ridiculous, in the gaudy Slytherin green dress her Aunt Narcissa sent to her via owl. She was never much of a girly girl, even if her aunt forced her into those kinds of clothes while she was growing up.

She had her first snog at the Yule Ball, much to her distaste. Blaise was far too….aggressive, and not at all romantic. She'd always imagined her first kiss to be gentle and romantic, not an aggressive snog session in the broom closet in the entrance hall. She tried to shove him off of her, but the action of trying to shove him off only made him come on stronger.

During the tasks, Lina found her loyalty rather evenly split between both Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory. Draco, of course, was only in favor of Diggory because of his hatred of Potter, something that Lina did not share. Though she knew why Draco did not like him at all, and why her uncle did not like him at all, she was always the optimist and saw the best in people.

Also, she wasn't as fervent in her beliefs about blood purity as the rest of her family was - she'd met and seen plenty of talented Muggle-borns during her time at Hogwarts, just as, if not more, capable of magic as anyone else. She didn't see the reasoning behind her family's hatred of them, and the older she got, the less she understood and supported this important ideal of her family.

In June, the Third Task took place, and with it, two great events. Cedric Diggory's death, and the news of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return.

After the rumours spread, that Harry Potter had seen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named kill Cedric, and that the Dark Lord tried to kill him as well, and after hearing Dumbledore affirm this at Cedric's funeral, Lina came to believe it. Why would Potter and Dumbledore lie about that? What reason was there to lie about it; what was there to gain?

And she felt it, too. She felt the change coming.

That summer, when she and Draco returned to Malfoy Manor, she knew the rumours were true. Uncle Lucius was spending less and less time at the house, and he and Aunt Narcissa spent excessive amounts of time whispering to each other in the shadows of the corridors. If she stayed up, Lina could hear them, hear what they were talking about - and surely enough, they were talking about Him.

He was back, and Uncle Lucius was back to being a Death Eater.

Lina couldn't handle it. By now, she was old enough to know what the Death Eaters had done, what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had done, and she wasn't proud. She didn't want to be a part of that, of violence and evil for the sake of blood purity, a silly and outdated notion. She suddenly felt so different, so alienated from her family. She wasn't a blood purity fanatic, she wasn't a murderer and torturer like her parents, she didn't belong to them, or her aunt and uncle….she'd been foolish to ask to be in Slytherin, she didn't belong there either….she'd been so foolish and impressionable, and after some careful reading and eavesdropping, she knew she was truly out of place at Malfoy Manor.

So she ran away.


	3. Tonks

**As always, thanks for the support, via fave, follow and especially REVIEWS! I love them, what can I say? Reviews are my lifeblood here on :)**

**Also, this story will be a bit different, because I will allow the readers decide on who Lina is ultimately shipped with, so keep that in mind...and maybe send in your suggestions...**

**Anyway, here we go.**

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><p>Fourteen year old runaway Lina Lestrange sat in the corner of the Leaky Cauldron. She was a prepared runaway. She'd brought money and clothes and books stuffed into an enormous case, along with her beloved cello. She didn't know if bringing the cello was exactly practical, per say, but she couldn't leave it behind. She couldn't. It would be like leaving her arm or her leg back there, and that would be senseless.<p>

"More tea, dear?" inquired one of the elderly waitressing witches.  
>"Oh, no, no thank you," Lina replied. She briefly lifted her head from her book she was nose-deep in to give the witch the faintest of smiles.<p>

"Alright, just holler if you need anything," the witch replied with her own faint smile.

"Thanks," Lina repeated.

She bowed her head back into the book, as she took a sip of her now cold tea. She was reading a book about wizarding families she'd nicked from her uncle's library before she left, trying to figure out if there was anyone she could go to. She'd been out of Malfoy Manor for just about a week, and had been sleeping on the Knight Bus, and only just paid for the cheapest room at the Leaky Cauldron to sleep in the previous night.

She hadn't discovered much in the book. It seemed like everyone that was related to her was just as bad as her parents or her aunt and uncle. She didn't really have any friends to go to either, sure, she had acquaintances from school, but none she was particularly fond of or close enough to to go and stay with.

That was, until she discovered the name Andromeda Tonks.

Andromeda Tonks, neé Black, was the aunt that Lina had never heard of. Younger than her own mother, and older than her aunt, Andromeda had apparently been thrown out of the family for marrying the Muggle-born Ted Tonks. Lina discovered that they had one daughter, her cousin, Nymphadora.

Finding out that this mysterious Aunt Andromeda had married a Muggle-born, it was easy for Lina to understand why she'd never heard her name mentioned before. But, also, if this Aunt Andromeda had married a Muggle-born, she must not have shared the prejudices of her family, which meant she must've been a decent person, or at least more decent than the rest of her family. And if she was more decent, then maybe, just maybe, she'd accept Lina into her home, just until September 1st when she could go back to Hogwarts….

Could she, in reality, ask a blood relative that she'd never met to feed and house her? Was that right?

She didn't know. She just knew she needed somewhere to go - she couldn't sleep on the Knight Bus or at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of her Hogwarts summers.

Finishing the last sip of her cold tea, she shut the family history book, and shoved it back into her bulky cello case, which she picked up and strapped back on her back. She'd gotten used to being careful - she didn't know when or where someone, one of her aunt and uncle's acquaintances would pop up and attempt to drag her back to Malfoy Manor. The other day, while trying to blend in with the crowds in Diagon Alley, she'd nearly run head-on into Mr. Goyle. She thanked Merlin that she didn't.

She carried the bulky case up the set of creaky stairs, and shoved the last few things she'd left out in her room into the bag, and transferred a bit of her money into the pocket of her jeans. Since running away, she'd been productive enough to convert some of her galleons into Muggle money, which she used to buy Muggle clothes to better disguise herself from potential people who'd recognize her, and because she'd always had an infatuation with Muggle clothing. It had always intrigued her, and had always looked loads more comfortable than the billowing skirts and suffocating corsets her aunt had stuffed her in her whole life.

Just as she was about to lock her room and leave to go wander and attempt to find Andromeda Tonks, an owl managed to slip through her window, which was just barely cracked open. It was a great eagle owl, one that she recognized immediately as Mercury, Draco's great eagle owl that his parents had bought him before he departed for Hogwarts.

"Oh, what is it?" Lina mumbled hurriedly under her breath, as she detached the rolled parchment from the owl's leg.

Unrolling it, she recognized her cousin's untidy scrawl, as she read:

_Lina -_

_You knew this is what our family was. Don't try and write to me that you didn't know, because you did._

_Mum and dad are awfully upset. Dad's rather ashamed that you're running from the family, and mum's just been a mess, crying and sobbing constantly._

_Anyway, I'm worried about you. We all are. You should come home. You've got to face the facts sometime. You can't run away forever._

_You're still my favorite cousin. Don't worry._

_Draco_

Sighing, she flipped the piece of parchment over, and scrawled a note back to him:

_Draco_

_Just because I know what our family is does not mean I have to accept it. Please understand, I just can't come back._

_I don't want to be one of THEM. I just can't be._

_I hope you understand._

_With love,_

_M.H.L._

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><p>She attached the parchment back to Mercury's leg, and shooed the owl back out the window.<p>

And she locked the door to the Leaky Cauldron room behind her, as she prepared to go find her lost Aunt Andromeda.

In a small, unassuming townhouse in a residential neighborhood of London, Nymphadora Tonks sat in a breakfast nook, eating a bowl of oatmeal. She'd much rather be at 12 Grimmauld Place, seeing as that was where all the action was and where she was truly needed, but she'd promised her parents that she'd check in on their house for them while they were celebrating their anniversary on a holiday to France.

She wasn't staying long, though, only long enough to make sure everything was in line and for her to finish her oatmeal. She was too hungry to wait, even if she knew that Molly Weasley would have a fantastic breakfast prepared for her and the rest of the Order, she just had to have something to tie her over.

Sighing, she rose from her seat at the nook, and dropped her bowl off in the sink. With a flick of her wand, the water turned on, and one of the sponges from the side began to scrub her bowl clean. Another flick of the wand and the bowl and spoon were both returned to their rightful places, just where her mother would've liked them.

She decided that it was time to go, and headed towards the door. Just before she reached for the handle, she glanced at herself in the mirror, and decided that purple hair wasn't her color for the day. She scrunched her face with concentration, and within mere seconds, her hair was bubblegum pink, a color that she thought better suited her mood.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

"Damn Muggle postmen," Tonks mumbled under her breath, as she fiddled with the door handle to get it open.

Instead of finding a postman on her doorstep as she had expected, she found a girl, who she assumed to be around 15. Immediately, Tonks was taken aback, because this strange girl resembled her deranged and estranged aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, so much so that Tonks actually thought it was her until she noticed the age. The girl had her aunt's wild dark hair which she'd tried to restrain into two braids, and had inherited the well-shaped features of the Black family, just as Tonks' mother had. The major distinguishing feature that separated the girl from the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange were the girls' midnight blue eyes that seemed almost doll-like.

For some time, Tonks stared at the strange girl, dressed in tattered jeans, a baggy flannel shirt, and hiking boots, with a large case of some sort strapped to her back. She had no idea who she was or why she was here, but her resemblance to not only Tonks' horrible aunt, but her own mother, was rather disturbing. The girl undoubtedly looked like a Black.

"Er….," Tonks began, clearing her throat. "Can I help you?"

"Is this….is this….the Tonks house?" the girl inquired, rather breathlessly. She sounded like she'd just completed a marathon. She was probably out of breath due to the huge load she had on her back.

"Yes….," Tonks responded warily. "Who are you?"

"Marcelina, er, Lina, Lina Lestrange," the girl said. She seemed rather ashamed of her own name, and when Tonks heard it, she took an involuntary step back. As she started speaking, she sounded desperate, and Tonks could see the tears welling in her eyes."Please, can you please help me? I've run away, I can't stay with them anymore….I don't want to be Dark….I don't want to be made a Death Eater….please, can't you help?"

The girl called Lina was now on the verge of a total meltdown on Tonks' doorstep, and though she was initially was wary, the girl's fear and anxiety seemed to be more than genuine. Something about the sight pulled at Tonks' heartstrings, and she reached out to lay a hand on her apparent cousin's shoulder.

"C'mon, come in," Tonks beckoned. "You can't stand out here and cry all day. Come, I'll fix you a cup of tea."

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><p>Lina couldn't help it. She found herself a sobbing, blubbering mess, as she spurted out everything to the cousin she'd just met - she talked about everything, from how the Malfoys abused a long line of house elves, all the blood purity mania, and how Uncle Lucius was a Death Eater and had recently rejoined the Dark Lord, something she knew for a fact, and how she had nightmares about her parents trying to force her to use the Cruciatus Curse on Frank and Alice Longbottom, and how she couldn't handle it all anymore. She didn't have it in her to hate for such a fickle reason as blood purity, and she couldn't knowingly live in a house of a Death Eater. She couldn't handle being the daughter of Bellatrix and Rodolphus, the infamous torturers, murderers and Death Eaters. She didn't want to be associated with any of them, any of it, anything Dark or to do with the Dark Lord anymore.<p>

Lina wasn't a Malfoy. She wasn't a Lestrange. She wasn't a Black.

Tonks couldn't say that she was surprised by this information. However, she was surprised at how tortured Lina seemed. The young girl's chest heaved with sobs, and her voice trembled as she told Tonks everything. Maybe it was just prejudice, but Tonks never imagined the daughter of her evil maniac of an aunt Bellatrix Lestrange to be so….human, and the complete opposite of evil. In fact, the girl seemed sweet, but terribly frazzled and tortured over knowing the true identity of the family members she'd trusted for most of her life.

"It's alright, c'mon now," Tonks said gently.

She did something she never thought she'd do at that moment - she embraced a member of her mother's family. She pulled Lina in for a supportive hug that slightly muffled her cries.

"I'm sorry," Lina mumbled, separating herself from Tonks. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have come here, I shouldn't have burdened you with all of this…."

"It's alright, really," Tonks assured her. "If I had to live with the Malfoys, I'd be in worse shape than you."

To Lina's surprise, Tonks rose from the table, and said, "C'mon, now. We can't sit here and cry forever, can we?"

"What?" Lina asked, confused.

"I've got to go, and you're coming with me," Tonks told her. "You're in no state to be left alone, and I'm not cruel enough to send you back to the Malfoys."

"You mean….you're alright with me?" Lina inquired, shocked. "Even though you know about….about….my mother….?"

"You're not your mother," Tonks declared. "You've shown me that already. Your mother has no capacity for emotion, and you have a bit too much emotion."

Lina laughed slightly at Tonks' dry humour, and then found Tonks tugging her by the hand.

"I'll give you a chance, Lina," Tonks said. "Now, c'mon. We've got to go."


End file.
